Ulster

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Robert Baloucoune's inclusion for the first time this season is one of five Ulster changes from the last-gasp win over Dragons for Friday's United Rugby Championship home game against Stormers (19:35 GMT).

After a long recovery from a hamstring injury, Ireland wing Baloucoune is named at right wing as Stuart Moore drops out of the backline with Michael Lowry switching to full-back.

John Cooney, who will depart Ulster at the end of the season to join French club Brive, starts at scrum-half with Nathan Doak relegated to the bench.

Fit-again Andrew Warwick replaces Callum Reid at loose-head prop with the other forwards changes the inclusion of lock Kieran Treadwell and back row Matty Rea in place of Matthew Dalton and James McNabney.

Rea's selection means that David McCann switches from flanker to number eight.

Reid and McNabney are named on a replacements bench that includes fit-again hooker Tom Stewart.

Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey will be making his 200th Ulster appearance in Friday's contest.

Currently unavailable for selection due to injury are Ethan McIlroy (knee), Ben Moxham (knee), Werner Kok (hamstring), Cormac Izuchukwu (ankle), Jake Flannery (knee), Iain Henderson (hamstring), Eric O'Sullivan (knee), Jude Postlethwaite (thumb), Sean Reffell (calf) and Lorcan McLoughlin (knee).

Friday's contest is crucial to ninth-placed Ulster's hopes of staying in contention for the play-offs as they face a Stormers side who currently occupy the eighth and final qualification spot, one point ahead of the Irish province.

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune, Hume, McCloskey, Stockdale; Murphy, Cooney; Warwick, Herring, O'Toole; O'Connor (capt), Treadwell; Matty Rea, Timoney, McCann.

Replacements: Stewart, Reid, Wilson, Sheridan, McNabney, Doak, Carson, Ward.

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Ulster back row James McNabney said "it was a bit surreal" to be included as a development player in Ireland's Six Nations squad.

The 22-year-old debuted for his province last season after making 14 appearances for the Ireland Under-20s.

His inclusion for Ireland's pre-championship training camp in Portugal was his first involvement with the senior national side and came after a string of impressive performances at Kingspan Stadium.

The call-up was a surprise to the player himself, however, who struggled to believe the news when he heard while working on the family farm.

"I was actually just finished putting in silage with the telehandler and I looked at my phone and saw I got the email," said McNabney.

"I wasn't sure it was true and I had to have a good look to make sure it was legitimate because I didn't think I'd be on the radar for something like that."

The number eight, who has featured 11 times for Ulster this season, said it was strange to suddenly be alongside the Irish Test stars.

"It was a bit surreal. When you go go-karting with Peter O'Mahony and Caelan Doris, you think it seems a bit nuts.

"But they're only human like the rest of us, they're great lads and were really welcoming to me. It was great."

McNabney felt he came away from the experience a better player.

"I really loved it, it was a good opportunity," he added. "There's definitely things I've worked out that need to be much better since being there.

"I've been stretched massively, but we know now where we're at and what the finishing goal looks like so we can work towards it."

McNabney will next be in action against the Stormers at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night, a match that will be broadcast live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says Robert Baloucoune is looking "really sharp" as he prepares to make his comeback from injury.

The wing, who has four caps for Ireland, has not featured this season because of a hamstring problem with his last outing coming against Benetton in April.

The 27-year-old could make his return in the United Rugby Championship (URC) game against the Stormers at Kingspan Stadium on Friday, a match that will be broadcast live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

"It's been a tough year for him, it's more than 11 months that he's been out," said Murphy.

"He's through a couple of weeks training and he's starting to look really sharp.

"It's brilliant to have him back in."

Murphy feels like Baloucoune can be a leader in what is a young group.

"His voice in and around, the changing room, he's quite quiet but when he says something, the lads listen," he added.

"Especially in our backs, where we've a mix of young and old, his experience is vital."

Prop Andy Warwick and hooker Tom Stewart are also available for selection after injuries, but Ulster are still without a number of key personnel including Ethan McIlroy, Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Cormac Izuchukwu and Iain Henderson.

Meanwhile prop Sam Crean has returned to Saracens following his short-term loan.

Friday night's game is the last in the URC before attention turns to Europe with Ulster set to face Top 14 power Bordeaux-Begles in the last-16 of the Champions Cup on 6 April.

Sat ninth in the URC table going into this weekend's action, one place and one point behind their opponents in Belfast on Friday, Murphy said there will be no switch of focus.

"We're dealing week to week. It's going to be a massive challenge but the great thing for us is that we play Friday night and we don't play Bordeaux until Sunday," he said.

"It gives us the weekend to have a think about it and really get into it during the week.

"For us, Bordeaux is very much on the backburner. Our league position is the most important thing at the moment."

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Ulster make three changes from the win over Scarlets two weeks ago for Saturday's crucial United Rugby Championship contest against Dragons which includes the return of prop Tom O'Toole.

O'Toole takes over from Scott Wilson, who drops to the bench, with David McCann replacing Matty Rea in the back row and Nathan Doak in for Conor McKee at scrum-half.

McKee made his competitive debut when starting against Scarlets but won't feature at Rodney Parade as John Cooney - whose departure at the end of the season was announced earlier this week - is named on the bench.

Doak will partner Ulster Academy fly-half Jack Murphy in the half-backs as Aidan Morgan is included in the replacements.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy admitted on Tuesday that his side "need to win" the contest against the bottom-placed club to maintain hopes of clinching a spot in the end-of-season play-offs.

The 12th-placed Irish province are only two points off a play-offs spot but losing to Dragons - who are marooned at the bottom of the table - would not be a promising sign in relation to Ulster's hopes of moving into the top eight with only five rounds of fixtures remaining after this weekend.

Ulster: Moore; Lowry, Hume, McCloskey, Stockdale; Murphy, Doak; Reid, Herring, O'Toole; O'Connor (capt), Dalton; McCann, Timoney, McNabney.

Replacements: Andrew, Crean, Wilson, Treadwell, Crothers, Cooney, Morgan, Ward.

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says his side "need to win" to keep their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship alive.

A top-eight finish will not only secure a play-off position but also a place in the Champions Cup for next season.

Ulster sit 12th after a disappointing campaign but are just two points off a play-off position with six matches remaining.

Murphy's side head into Saturday's game in Wales off the back off a dramatic win over Scarlets in Belfast on 1 March.

"If we want to keep our hopes up of playing at the business end of the season then we need to win, there's no doubt," said Murphy.

"The Dragons' league position shows they are at the bottom but they have been very competitive, especially at home."

Cooney 'will be missed' in Belfast

Murphy added that he feels the race for the play-offs will "definitely go right to the wire".

After Ulster travel to Dragons on Saturday, Murphy's side face the Stormers, Leinster, Sharks, Munster and Edinburgh to round off the URC regular season.

"The teams in the middle are roughly four to five points off where they were last year.

"Last year it was 50 points to get into the play-offs, we finished on 51, but you could see 46 or 47 getting you in this year.

"That all goes on in the background. You're always thinking about them but all we can do this week is play for a maximum of five points."

Murphy also paid tribute to long-serving scrum-half John Cooney, who will join French side Brive at the end of the season.

The 34-year-old became a fan favourite after joining from Connacht in 2017 and Murphy said he had been "incredible" for the club.

"Obviously I've only been here for a year but I've known John since he was 15 or 16 coming out of school," added Murphy.

"I've known him for a long time and he has stood up on some really big nights with some incredible performances.

"He'll be missed around the place. It's like when he came in and took over from Ruan Pienaar. It'll be big shoes to fill and now someone else will get that opportunity."

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Ulster head coach Richie Murphy said the province are "looking into" their injury issues this season but added that there is "no proof" that training on their artificial pitch is a contributing factor.

The Irish province beat Scarlets on Saturday in the United Rugby Championship (URC) despite missing the likes of Iain Henderson, Tom Stewart, Cormac Izuchukwu and John Cooney through injury.

Sat 14th in the table even after the win, senior absentees have been a feature of their difficult campaign.

Speaking on BBC NI, former Ulster and Ireland flanker Chris Henry noted concerns over whether the Kingspan Stadium artificial surface, installed in 2023, has any part to play.

"There's a large injury list. Interestingly, a lot of these injuries are lower limb injuries and obviously the pitch has been talked about a lot," he said.

"When Ulster put out their top 15 players we can compete with anyone. Whenever the injuries happen, we're putting in young guys who, it's not their fault, but perhaps they aren't absolutely ready."

Murphy said that Ulster's squad has had 70% availability through the campaign but that it is the calibre of player missing, rather than frequency or nature of the injuries, which has cost the province.

He said: "At this moment in time there's no proof that training on a plastic pitch creates more injuries.

"We do have an injury issue at the moment. Ulster Rugby as a group, we're looking into why we're picking up those injuries but there's no real reason for it at the moment, or that's been found at the moment."

Ulster welcomed Jacob Stockdale, James Hume and Stuart McCloskey back into the side last month after spells on the sidelines, but then lost Henderson, Stewart and Izuchukwu to fresh injuries, while Robert Baloucoune has not played this season.

Murphy added: "When you look at the players that have been out all across the season, it's all our big senior players."

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Ulster back row James McNabney said the side's 30-28 win over Scarlets on Saturday was "absolutely crucial" to keeping their United Rugby Championship play-off hopes alive.

Richie Murphy's side had fallen to 15th in the URC standings before the game and were behind in the closing minutes only for Alan O'Connor's late try to snatch the much-needed win.

The result saw Ulster rise just one place in the table, but they are now only two points off the play-off spots with six games remaining.

"If you look at the league table you would nearly think you're too far away to ever make anything of it," said McNabney.

"It hasn't gone our way, the season hasn't gone to plan.

"We think there's a chance we can salvage something out of this."

The turning point in the victory over the Scarlets came when the visitors were camped on the Ulster line seeking a try that would have moved them two scores ahead going into the final 10 minutes.

Instead, the ball squirted out from the ruck, with McNabney on hand to grab it and then hack clear.

Wearing his school socks for the URC's 'Origin Round', the 22-year-old said it was the first time he had put boot to ball in a game since his days at Cambridge House.

"My [school] coach said 'I think you should just keep it in your hands and not bother kicking it.' That was the last time," he joked.

"Don't know if I'll do it again, but it was just what happened."

Before seeing off the Scarlets Ulster had lost their past two games, both against Italian opposition, and had not won at home in the league since October.

McNabney, though, said that the players' commitment has not wavered.

"It's all about the heart. When you keep getting beaten, you can't shy away from it," he added.

"You either ruin your season or you stand up to the fight. I think that's what we did.

"You have to keep at it, there's no option."

Image source, Inpho

United Rugby Championship, Ulster v Scarlets

Date: Saturday 1 March Venue: Kingspan Stadium, Belfast Kick-off: 17:15 GMT

Coverage: Live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app

Ulster centre James Hume says he is keen to find a balance between rediscovering his best form after a lengthy lay-off with a knee injury and helping to mentor the young players in the Irish province's squad.

The 26-year-old returned to competitive action after 10 months out in the United Rugby Championship defeat by Benetton earlier this month.

Hume has been undergoing ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair.

"It's a tough balance for me to accept at the moment, being a senior player at 26 is pretty mental," Hume told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm trying to get that balance of getting my own stuff right on coming back from injury but I do want to help the academy lads and the younger lads coming through as much as possible.

"That balance of focusing on what I'm good at but also giving them advice and experience when I can."

Hume says Ulster's indifferent form this season, which sees them sit 14th in the URC table and struggling to secure qualification for next season's Champions Cup, has made it a steep learning curve for the younger players in the squad.

"The position we are in at the moment they [younger players] have a huge role in making the team better.

"We're putting everything into everything we're doing – our pitch sessions, our gym, our intensity has risen the past few weeks in training and I just hope that starts translating onto the pitch because we are putting the work in behind the scenes.

"It's just a matter of time before that clicks and hopefully we can get into that top eight and secure European rugby."

'Week on, week off' during Six Nations helps

Hume's career has been beset with a catalogue of serious injuries in recent years, but signing a three-year deal in March 2024 ensured that he will remain with the northern province until 2027.

He believes the 'stop-start' nature of Ulster's fixture list in and around the Six Nations period is of benefit to him as he continues to build up match fitness.

"The week on, week off thing during the Six Nations helps if you have any niggles," he explained.

"So although I want to be playing games as much as possible if there is anything to sort out you kind of can in those weeks when there is no game.

"When I got back running and into bits of training that was the hardest because I knew I was still two or three months off but I felt I was able to do a lot.

"Ultimately that's where the experience of the physios and the research behind ACL rehabs comes in. You need to build up a tolerance and that's why I have that confidence now, all the hours you put in, and the programmes, it shows that they really work."